Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world; mine-related injuries number up to 100 per month, and an estimated 200,000 Afghans have been disabled by landmine/unexploded ordinances (UXO) accidents.

Afghanistan faces numerous problems, ranging from its devastated economy, the return of millions of refugees, continued warlordism, drug trafficking, and a new government that is struggling with the political forces trying to define the sort of countryAfghanistan will become in the 21st century.

The 2001 war in Afghanistan started in October 2001, in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, marking the beginning of its War on Terrorism campaign, seeking to oust the Taliban and find al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden.

By November 13, al-Qaeda and Taliban forces, with the possible inclusion of Osama bin Laden, had regrouped and were concentrating their forces in the Tora Bora cave complex, on the Pakistan border 30 miles (50 km) southwest of Jalalabad, to prepare for a stand against the Northern Alliance and US/NATO forces.

It is estimated that in Afghanistan there are 1.5 million suffering from immediate starvation, as well as 7.5 million suffering as a result of the country's dire situation - the combination of civil war, drought-related famine, and, to a large extent, the Taliban's oppressive regime and the U.S.-led invasion.

Afghanistan competition is the second since the fall of the Taliban regime.

Afghanistan is bordered by Iran on the west, by Pakistan on the east and south, and by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan on the north; a narrow strip, the Vakhan (Wakhan), extends in the northeast along Pakistan to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China.

In the spring of 2007, Pakistan's construction of a fence along the border with Afghanistan led to protests from Afghanistan, and sparked several border clashes between the forces of the two countries.

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 12, 2004 — In a solemn ceremony marked with vivid memories, time-honored traditions, great symbolism and a call to a renewed sense of purpose, Combined Forces Command Afghanistan paused to remember the heinous acts of Sept. 11, 2001, on the third anniversary of the tragedy.

GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Aug. 13, 2004 –– Members of the Ghazni provincial reconstruction team and the local government are looking at long-term improvements to be made in their region, adding to the redevelopment taking place throughout Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's leaders are determined to build their economy, and the United States continues to help.

Afghanistan currently is governed by a transitional administration headed by Hamid Karzai (national elections are scheduled for September 2004), who took office after a U.S.-led coalition defeated the previous Taliban government, which had provided sanctuary in Afghanistan for the terrorist group al-Qaeda.

Karzai also urged the 50 countries attending the Berlin conference to help him prevent Afghanistan from becoming a "haven for drugs and terrorists." In December 2003, the U.S. government reported that opium was growing in 28 of Afghanistan's 32 provinces, with poppy cultivation rising from 30,700 hectares to 61,000 hectares in one year.

Besides oil and natural gas, Afghanistan also is estimated to have 73 million tons of coal reserves, most of which is located in the region between Herat and Badashkan in the northern part of the country.

Nationalist IslamicMujahideen rebels nonetheless refused to recognize the Soviet-backed regime, eventually forcing the withdrawl of Soviet forces in 1989 and the adoption of an amended multiparty Islamic-oriented Constitution in 1990.

There are currently no functioning law schools in Afghanistan; a faculty of law was established at Kabul University in 1938, but the university - closed at one point under the Taliban regime - is currently in disarray and the status of the law program is unclear.

Three more British soldiers died yesterday in Afghanistan as a study revealed that attacks by the resurgent Taliban have raised the death rate of coalition troops to double that during the invasion of Iraq.

Afghanistan'sdefence ministry says three Canadian troops were killed in a major operation in the south of the country...The NATO force involved in the operation would only say it had "taken casualties."

Afghanistan's world-leading opium cultivation rose a "staggering" 59 percent this year, the U.N. anti-drugs chief announced Saturday in urging the government to crack down on big traffickers and remove corrupt officials and police.

The geographical position of Afghanistan, and the peculiar character of the people, invest the country with a political importance that can scarcely be over-estimated in the affairs of CentralAsia.

Ghuznee, the impregnable stronghold of Afghanistan, was taken, July 22, a deserter having brought information that the Kabul gate was the only one which had not been walled up; it was accordingly blown down, and the place was then stormed.

Intent on increasing Britain’s influence in Afghanistan and weakening Russia’s in Persia, the British Government declared the Shah’s actions to be hostile to Britain and demanded that he should lift the siege.

Landlocked and mountainous, Afghanistan has suffered from such chronic instability and conflict during its modern history that its economy and infrastructure are in ruins, and many of its people are refugees.

They were at loggerheads with the international community over the presence on their soil of Osama bin Laden, accused by the US of masterminding the bombing of their embassies in Africa in 1998 and the attacks on the US on 11 September2001.

Afghanistan's history, internal political development, foreign relations, and very existence as an independent state have largely been determined by its geographic location at the crossroads of Central, West, and South Asia.

Pul-i-khumri, Afghanistan: Forty people,including six lawmakers, were killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan Tuesday in the deadliest attack since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, a health official...

Afghanistan News.Net is part of an international network of news sites, dedicated to the major regions, countries and cities of the world.

The events of 11 September2001 once again brought Afghanistan starkly to the fore of world attention, highlighting it as a dangerous and dysfunctional state (as well as being one of the poorest countries in the world).

Afghanistan is a land-locked country situated at the cross-roads between Central and South Asia.

However, as reflects the devastation and under-development of Afghanistan’s economy, actual trade remains minimal: EU imports from Afghanistan in 2005 were €26 million and exports were 8364;321 million.

The war on Afghanistan was sold to the public as a reaction to the attacks on 11 September2001.

Afghanistan is one of the world's poorest countries, where such an enormous sum sum of money would have had extraordinary value.

The leader of the new US-controlled interim government in Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, was a key collaborator in the conspiracy to construct the major gas and oil pipe-line in the region, which was the hidden agenda of the US-led invasion.

De Hoop Scheffer stressed the importance of bringing peace to Afghanistan, which is going through the bloodiest phase of an insurgency launched by the extremist Taliban movement after it was toppled from government in late 2001.

While the rest of Afghanistan is experiencing relative normalcy after three decades of turmoil, the provinces adjacent to the tribal regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan are targets of terrorist and insurgent attacks by a force of new and former Taliban and foreign militants.

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan and Coalition forces conducted a counter terrorist operation Sept. 5 on a compound near the village of Pelankhel in the KhowstProvince.

Radio Afghanistan broadcasts are promoting a standardized pronunciation of the literary language which is based on the old dictional tradition of the country, with its archaic phonetic characteristics.

USAID - Asia and the Near East - Countries - Afghanistan(Site not responding. Last check: )

In 2001, when the Taliban were forced out of power, half of Afghanistan's people lived in absolute poverty and were unemployed.

USAID supported voter registration, civic and voter education programs in 29 of 34 provinces, polling, ballot counting, security and logistics to allow an estimated 6.84 million Afghans to cast their vote in the historic parliamentary elections of September 2005.

Afghanistan has a culture of radio listenership, but under the Taliban, music was forbidden and news was tightly controlled.

Travel in all areas of Afghanistan, including the capital, Kabul, is unsafe due to military operations, landmines, banditry, armed rivalry among political and tribal groups, and the possibility of terrorist attacks, including attacks using vehicular or other improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

U.S. citizens who choose to visit or remain in Afghanistan despite this Travel Warning are urged to pay close attention to their personal safety, security and health needs and are expected to assume primary responsibility for such.

Updated information on travel and security in Afghanistan may be obtained from the Department of State by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States and Canada or, for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444.

NATO is a key component of the international community’s engagement in Afghanistan, assisting the Afghan authorities in providing security and stability, paving the way for reconstruction and effective governance.

The Alliance’s aim is to help establish the conditions in which Afghanistan can enjoy – after decades of conflict, destruction and poverty – a representative government and self-sustaining peace and security.

NATO’s role is a key part of the Afghanistan Compact, a five-year plan between the government of Afghanistan and the international community, which sets goals relating to the security, governance and economic development of the country.